How to explain Twitter

I often get asked to explain what Twitter is and "why would I bother twittering", especially at a conference where this a large amount of newby tech-users like Learning@School.

Finally now there is a new Commoncraft video to help me do just that:

Twitter in Plain English.

This simple video will hopefully explain it a bit better whenever I get asked next. Oh, and you can even follow me (@rachelboyd), or @leelefever (the creator of the Commoncraft video below) on twitter too!

The video is embedded below, or you can view it here.

See you around the twittersphere!

For more info about Twitter, you can also check out my del.icio.us links and resources that I've gathered on the topic here.

This one by EDCAUSE: 7 things you should know about Twitter, is a goodie too. You can download it from this link.

Update: Check out Dean Shareski's latest post linked to this Commoncraft video... Why you can't explain Twitter in 140 Characters.

Happy World Maths Day!

All classes at my school for the past 2 weeks have been participating in trialing Live Mathletics to celebrate World Maths Day (today - 5th March).

It has been a huge success with my class and definitely a favourite. The children have loved having their own log on names and passwords (although with 5 & 6 year olds logging in has proved testing at times)... but mostly they have loved playing against children from other countries.... Spain, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom to name just a few.

It has brought out the competitive side in most students and really challenged them to race against the clock to improve their maths basic facts.

In the past few weeks we have had students playing both at home and at school. Marnie in Auckland is my personal Mathletics expert as she has been using the entire programme in her mainly year 2 classroom during 2007. Our decision now is do we want to continue with the programme as a school, or just offer it to families...

Here are some thoughts on Live Mathletics from the 5 & 6 year old in my class.

You can view them on the embedded slideshare below or click here.

| View | Upload your own

Happy World Maths Day to you all :)

Blogs in Plain English

Finally it is here... the long awaited Commoncraft video "Blogs in Plain English".

I have been hanging out, eager to find out how it would be presented and keen to also use it in any presentations or with professional development I do with teachers.

So what's the big deal about blogs???
Watch and enjoy....

(video embedded below)

ULearn Visual Dictionary of NZ Bloggers

OK, drum roll please.... this is my

Visual Dictionary of Fab NZ Edubloggers....

Hopefully you will already know them all and read them regularly like I do, if not, stick them in your aggregator NOW!

Almost of these fantastic educators I had the pleasure of meeting f2f @ ULearn.

(Oh and a warning..... yes I am in lots of photos with the blogger, so you'll be seeing A LOT of me - sorry) Plus, I'm going in alphabetical order by first name just to be different ;)

Click on their name or on the photo to go on a tiki-tour.

A
Allanah King, Nelson









C
Chrissy Hellyer, Napier









D
David Kinane, Auckland

Derek Wenmoth, Christchurch
Image Credit: Uploaded on October 3, 2007 by Edublogger








F
Fiona Grant, Central North Shore









G
Greg Carroll, Dunedin (we missed you @ ULearn!)


J
Jane Nicholls, Dunedin








Jamin Lietze (class blog), Tauranga (I will send you a chocolate fish when you finally start your edublog Jamin!)
Image Credit: Uploaded on October 5, 2007 by Edublogger








Jedd Bartlett, Christchurch


L
Lynne Crowe, Te Awamutu (we all missed meeting you f2f Lynne!)


M
Marnie Thomas, Auckland









N
Nigel Frater, Wellington
Image Credit: Uploaded on October 5, 2007 by Edublogger







Nikki Gemmell, Auckland (great to see you back blogging, great to meet you properly)

S
Simon Evans, Hastings











Suzie Vesper, Wellington

NZ Edubloggers @ The Bloggers' Cafe
(thanks Jane for all your organisation)

Image credit: Uploaded on October 5, 2007 by *** ICT U Can!

Day One of ULearn07

Day one of ULearn07 was such a buzz. A day full of new adventures, experiences and things to challenge and ponder in the mind.

Meeting several NZ bloggers has GOT to be one of the highlights.... you converse, share ideas, skype chat, email, read blogs etc etc with these people and it is such a great experience to finally meet them f2f.

Ewan had hinted in his keynote that f2f conferences aren't needed so much anymore (and I agree that this should not be our sole PD)but these experiences have been gold for me; nothing like finally meeting someone in the flesh, after ever only seen one headshot photo of them in your entire life (or for people like Teaching Sagittarian, having NEVER seen a photo of her at all!)

Derek gave the welcome message on behalf of Nick from CORE and Allanah and I even got an anonymous mention each with stories from our Twitter... now we KNOW you read your twitters Derek! (even if you are somethimes very quiet)

What a fun experience just a little later to have twittered away and then got into a several way skype chat in the middle of Steve Maharey's talk... a little naughty but skyping with Jane, Chrissy, Simon and Allanah (later also with Durff) ... we had LOTS of jokes and were able to 'further discuss' the 'pertinent points' Steve was making to the audience on a much 'deeper level'... ok, well that's not quite true, but that IS my story and I'm sticking to it!

Finally it was time for Ewan's keynote, and luckily Chrissy and Jane's batteries died and so we soaked up all Ewan had to offer. His keynote was great, inspiring but also challenging... and the wonderful Scottish accent only added to the charm.

My notes from Ewan's keynote can be read here; I shared them on twitter too and got a couple of replies from people like Lenva (who is over presenting @ Navcon) and Simon May (in China). Glad they found them useful.

During Ewan's keynote I skyped in Sue Waters (Sydney, Australia) who listened as best she could for about 15 minutes, before Ewan's accent was just too difficult to follow ;) and later Durff (America) joined us briefly via Skype

..... with the powers of wireless internet what a connected world we live in!

Image Credits:
NZ Minister of Education - Uploaded on October 2, 2007 by Edublogger
ulearn07 001 - Uploaded on October 2, 2007 by teachingsagittarian

Challenging and thought-provoking

Starting October 15th (just over a week after we return from ULearn) is the K12 Online Conference.

The “K12 Online Conference” is for teachers, administrators and educators around the world interested in the use of Web 2.0 tools in classrooms and professional practice!

At the moment presenters are giving us 'tasters' or short movies/presentations of what they'll be presenting on.

I particularly liked the clever and exciting use of animoto to promote Kevin Jarrett and Sylvia Martinez's presentation on “Second Life: K-20 Educators Exploring Virtual Worlds - Panel”.

One presentation teaser that caught my eye today was from fellow NZder Derek Wenmoth. His challenging and thought-provoking teaser is a preview to his keynote presentation on “The Promise of ICT: How Can It Be Realized”I highly recommend you check it out: you can either view the presentation above by clicking on the link or view the embedded video below. This has certainly made me very keen to check out his actual presentation and has also got me thinking. (good thing it's the holidays here in NZ!)

You have been told!

Last week my class just finished our giant (for 6 & 7 year olds) digital stories. It's taken a while but we are all very proud of the finished products and I thought share with you all and have a bit of a brag!

We took our persuasive arguments (written collaboratively last term) and used a combination of Kidpix, Movie Maker and voice recordings to complete our movies.

The result is just gorgeous! It was the first time my students have used Movie Maker independently but they found it relatively easy. Our major trick was having all files etc well named and all stored in one folder on our school server. It was a little hard for them to line the audio up with the correct slides, but with many brains together in the one group, they were able to be victorious with a huge feeling of achievement and accomplishment.

So have a view of one of the eight videos (embedded below)....
the students are quite persuasive & convincing-
so just remember - you have been told!



(Update: The TeacherTube embedded video wont load for everyone so I'm trying our Blogger embed above - fingers crossed)

Times they are a-changing.....

A positive sign that times are a-changing.....

One of the latest Education Gazette vacancies for the Nelson region:
(I get these via email; subscribed last year when I was seeking new refuge - still get them now even though very happy - NO am NOT seeking a new job! - I'm just nosey!)

Nelson Intermediate

Scale A Y7–8 permanent position. Commence term 1, 2008. Current
roll 378. We seek a motivated and enthusiastic teacher to join
our vibrant school.

Applications close 14 September. Applications can only be
downloaded from www.nis.wikispaces.com

Fabulous... a school using a wikispaces in addition and as an extension of a school website - and using it to host job application info for download....
who says we need tech geeks to do all that stuff for us!

Wikis are just so useful and empowering!

Well done Hugh and team @ Nelson Intermediate!

(Hugh is NIS' new Principal this year - I was fortunate to have worked with him for two years at Mapua School - I KNOW he has and will make fabulous changes)